Start The Fire

"A burning passion for achievement marks the difference between a real goal and a mere wish."

- Paul J. Meyer

(1928- ) Author

Several year ago I decided to add learning to golf to my list of goals.  I am not a big sports person but I did think that golf would be a sport I would enjoy and I have many friends who play.  I had several friends who said they would teach me the game but I never seemed to get around to making the time to learn.  After about three years of having it on my goals list and doing nothing about it, I figured it was really not a priority and I dropped it.

                Now, when I add something to my goals list I usually find a way to achieve it, so what happened here?  The reason is simple, I had no passion to learn how to play golf.  To me it was just not that important.  It would be nice, but "nice" is not a reason to achieve a goal.  Unless you have a passion for what you want to achieve, all else is just "nice".

                I learned something from this that was worth more to me than learning to play golf.  I learned that unless a goal is backed with a passion to learn, it is not worth a whole lot.  I knew this principle before in my head, now I knew it in my heart.  Wishes or nice ideas are not good goals.  Achievement comes from action and action needs a fire behind it to work.

                Have you had goals that have been on your list for more than a year?  How about more than six months?  If you have goals that you have not made any progress on in six months or more, I encourage you to ask yourself two questions: 1) Is this something I really want or just think would be nice to do? 2) Am I willing to do what it takes to achieve this goal.  If it is something you would just like to do and if you are unwilling to do anything to achieve it, take the goal off the list and move on to something you really want.

                Never waste your time on weak and uninspiring goals.  They only take our time and usually only make us feel guilty that we do nothing to achieve them.  If there is no action, there is most likely a reason.  That reason often turns out to be that we really do not care if we achieve the goal or not.

                To succeed in anything, you must have the fire and desire to achieve it.  Without that, you will not have the energy or drive to do what you must do for success.  Use your fire of passion wisely and focus on the things you really want.  Time is your most precious resource so do not waste it on things that, although may be good and nice, are not your passion.

To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business or group, visit our website at http://www.growthcenter.net or www.johnpatrickhickey.com.   © 2014 John Patrick Hickey